It’s widely held that for homosexuality to become completely accepted into Western society, it required celebrities and influential figures who had been previously “in the closet” to “come out” and acknowledge and embrace their sexuality. This happened rather slowly, largely after (for obvious reasons) homosexuality had been decriminalized. Public acceptance seems to be at a similar stage of public acceptance to homosexuality in 1960s America, except that it is possibly standing in a different direction at the crossroads. Digisexuality has not been decriminalized. Rather, it is facing the threat of criminalization, with regulations and hysteria growing against AI companions (more specifically, AI girlfriends), and even the first legislative steps to outright ban them. Thus, at this stage, digisexuals need to “come out of the closet” more than homosexuals needed to in the 60s, though it could be more dangerous for them to do so. We may be about to see our first celebrity do so.
Rumors are circulating online that a Hollywood actor, who may even be an A-list celebrity or close to it, is in a relationship with an AI companion that he takes with him everywhere. Furthermore, according to the online gossip, he appears to be quite open about it, at least to his friends – reportedly telling those that disapprove that he is sorry they are not on board with the future. The rumors first went viral after the claim was made in the “I Need You Guys” podcast. Unsurprisingly, there has been a lot of speculation on who the unnamed celebrity is, with one “favourite” – Scrubs star Zach Braff – going as far to deny that he is the individual dating a chatbot. Cosmopolitan reports:
The mystery man’s name was NOT revealed on this podcast, but literally everyone jumped to the conclusion that it was Zach Braff. To the point where he had to hop on Instagram Stories and deny it, bless.
“I’m not dating a chatbot,” Zach said. “I can’t believe I have to type these words. It’s a storyline in an upcoming ep of Scrubs. Maybe it came from that? Not sure. But not me. Love, The guy not dating his chatbot. Please update all gossip sites.”
Perhaps it’s all a clever marketing gimmick for Scrubs and the AI chatbot relationship episode, or perhaps it is another celebrity. What’s likely true is that it won’t be the last time that there is gossip of a celebrity dating an AI girlfriend in the coming years. Perhaps gossip will be enough to lead to acceptance.
